CNET- Vista to offer improved handwriting recognition

A CNET article published today discusses the handwriting “personalization” feature in Windows Vista that aims to improve handwriting recognition even further. The author describes the process that personalization will entail and mentions new gestures for navigating through web pages, send email and other common tasks with the pen. Of course the article then ends with the “Tablets have disappointing sales” mantra that all such articles include.

In Vista, the “personalize handwriting recognition” feature presents two options. For those having a problem with a particular letter, word or phrase, there is a “target specific recognition errors” window. For those who are having more pervasive problems, there is an option to provide a more extensive set of samples–from A to Z.

With Vista, tablets will learn not only how users write particular words but also which words they turn to frequently, making those more likely guesses in cases where the software is unsure which word was meant. The software will also adopt Web sites and e-mail addresses that are not part of its standard dictionary.

The personalization option is available only for English-language.

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That last sentence is bound to create a bit of excitement in the international market, hopefully this will get addressed before Vista is released. Flicking is another new tool and the article describes how this will work with the new cursor which will appear as a droplet so the user can easily tell where it is on the screen while hovering. It’s a good article and worth a read. I am really looking forward to Vista and especially the AutoComplete which is a real time saver.